Page 132 of Ever With Me

She wasn’tstartinganything at this point. The last few weeks, she’d been oh-so-casually falling for a man she was in aone-day-at-a-timerelationship with. A man who treated their relationship as anything butcasual.

They needed to talk about this.

When she was almost at the dock, she saw that Pops and Audrey appeared to be eating cream puffs—because Pops always fed people and usually started with sweets if it was a kid. Bunny worried about his health, but Maddie thought it was cute.Same old Pops.Always sneaking sweets and salty snacks.

Maddie almost didn’t see a woman jogging from the parking lot down the narrow path toward the dock. The woman caught up to her just as she reached the first wooden plank.

“You Madison Yardley?”

Maddie turned back toward her and smiled. “That’s me.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. She shoved Maddie, hard, with both hands.

Maddie went flying backward against the dock, her butt and head smacking against the planks, sending spots into her vision as she cried out.

What the hell?

“Stay away from my boyfriend!” the woman screamed, hovering over her.

What?She stared at the woman, frozen with confusion.

“Brooks is mine, you hear? You keep your bitch hands off him.”

What the hell?

A shiny flash of metal glinted against the cloudy sky as the woman pulled a knife out from under her jacket.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you!”

“What? No!”

Suddenly, Pops appeared beside Maddie, and without an ounce of hesitation, he reached out, snatched the knife from the woman’s hand, then pushed her over the dock and into the water. The woman continued to scream, thrashing in the water, as Pops tossed the knife off the opposite side of the dock. It sank instantly.

What is happening?

Brooks came into sight.

Thank God.

A younger, more heart-breaking scream punctured Maddie’s horrified mind.

“Maddie!” Brooks cried. He bolted toward them.

She turned to get to Audrey, who stood screaming and clearly terrified in the boat.

Please don’t fall out of the pontoon, Audrey. Oh my God, what if that woman gets to her first?

Thankfully, the woman was swimming away and toward the shore, away from them. Maddie leaped into the pontoon, which rocked violently, knocking Audrey into her arms. Audrey wailed, trembling.But I have her.

Maddie attempted to scramble to her feet. Then she saw the dock, her heart slamming into her ribs.

Blood.Oh God, Pops.

Pops held his wrist to his shirt, but there was so much blood already dripping from his wrist.Did the knife nick him in the scuffle?She refused to believe it could be anything else.

“Maddie,” Pops said in a low voice. Brooks wasn’t far from them now, but Maddie scooped up an inconsolable Audrey and stood on wobbly legs, then climbed onto the dock. She hurried toward Pops. She could only hope that it was the adrenaline keeping the pain in her back and head subdued.

“What the fuck happened?” Brooks yelled as he reached her, grabbing Audrey from her arms. His face was reddened with rage.

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